This study showed that freeze-thaw processing can eliminate the HTLV-I infectivity of mothers' milk, and that HTLV-I carriers can indirectly feed their infants using frozen-thawed mothers' milk as a way to prevent HTLV-I infection.

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A retroperitoneal enlarging mass was detected and resected in a 24-year-old nulliparous woman after fertility-preserving surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy for a malignant germ cell tumor (MGCT) of the right ovary. This enlarging mass contained only a mature teratoma component. Alpha-fetoprotein, which was elevated to 21236.6 ng/mL before the initial surgery, persisted within normal after the completion of adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy. The patient was diagnosed with growing teratoma syndrome. Growing teratoma syndrome originating from ovarian germ cell tumor is very rare. Only 15 cases have been reported. Surgical resection and histological confirmation of growing mass after MGCT treatment is essential before conducting salvage chemotherapy.

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Abstract：Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (TANKO) has been developed in an attempt to improve cosmetic results.However, TANKO is often more technically difficult than multi-port laparoscopic surgery (MLPS) because of the restricted mobility; furthermore, several prospective randomized controlled trials have shown that TANKO has only cosmetic advantages. Moreover, if TANKO is performed on a patient with a shallow umbilicus and sparse subcutaneous adipose tissue, the umbilical scar may be highly visible because of the requirement of a larger periumbilical skin incision for TANKO, compared to MLPS. To resolve this problem, we describe a method of umbilicoplasty using TANKO for removal of ovarian tumors in three patients. All three patients were satisfied with the cosmetic result.

Abstract:Objectives: Human T cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I) is a causative agent of human T-cell leukemia and HTLV-I associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP). HTLV-I carriers are often infected vertically, especially via mother's milk. Since 1985, clinical measures have been adopted at a hospital in Okinawa to prevent vertical infections. Methods: We examined HTLV-I antibodies in all of the women (total 11,506) who gave birth after 24 gestational weeks at a hospital on the Okinawa main island from January 1985 to December 1999. Results: The positive rate among all pregnant women was always higher than that among primipara alone. Both figures decreased over the period studied, but the primiparity rate (36-39%) did not change significantly. The percentage of HTLV-I positive primipara pregnant women among the HTLV-I positive total was close to the primiparity rate from 1985 to 1988, but it was considerably lower than the overall primiparity rate thereafter (22-26%). Conclusions: Preventive measures against HTLV-I infection did not contribute to the decrease in HTLV-I positive mothers before 1999 because these measures were adopted from 1985, and so there must be other reasons for the decrease in HTLV-I positive rate. Further studies on social factors and by year of birth are needed to identify factors influencing HTLV-carrier ratios among pregnant women.

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